Where Tae kwon do stresses high kicking technique, Shotokan is grounded and uses more hand technique, though it has an arsenal of kicks as well. In Shinkan-ryū Kenpō there are many forms and levels of interesting iaijutsu techniques.Judo is a grappling art, involving throwing, joint locks and chokes. Shinkan-ryū Kenpō's iaijutsu is concerned less with looking perfect and is more intent on being true to its original nature of sword fighting methods. It can be said its just semantics but its foolish to think that is the only case. Japanese do use these words interchangeably as well. You have to keep an open mind and not judge a book by its suffix. If you are thinking, well this is a slippery slope to climb, it is indeed. So this idea between the difference of dō and jutsu can be a little complicated as you can see. As well jutsu schools can also contain strong points of spiritual refinement and character development.

Do not let the dō suffix always fool you into thinking the techniques are subpar. It is not helpful to dismiss such a school as not worthy of swordsmanship training. Kendō while limited in its teachings for sword combat does have its own place in the spectrum of sword arts from Japan. The dō systems are sometimes erroneously looked at as inferior to the jutsu forms. The changes in names from Jujutsu to Judo, however, do have some ramifications in the way the art was developed beyond its original intent as a dependable battlefield or warrior skill. People sometimes argue that Japanese themselves do not make a distinction over something like Judo or Iaido having decent martial applications. The difference between dō and jutsu can be seen as semantics. The styles usually using jutsu as their suffix are more some times more concerned with combat effectiveness as their goal. In arts that use dō as their suffix, the main ideas are character refinement and aesthetics and generally not combative aspects. Dō or michi 道 has the connotation of character refinement and spiritual training. The first difference to note is the semantic differences between dō and jutsu. The question often asked is a re iaido and iaijutsu the same? Iaidō and Iaijutsu refer to the art of drawing the sword in attack or defense. The art of drawing the sword is known by many names, iaijutsu, battojutsu, bakken, and nukiai. The art of iaijutsu is commonly known around the world as iaidō. What is the difference between iaidō and iaijutsu?

Iaido stance